Xander Harris Comes Home
by Lord Mesron
Summary: Xander comes home after being gone for two years after their High School graduation.


+ This story takes place 2 years after Graduation from High School. + The characters belong to WB (and/or UPN), Mutant Enemy and Joss Whedon with the exception of Smitty. He's my creation.  
  
Xander Harris Comes Home  
  
by Scott R. Barnett  
  
It was getting late in the day when Sgt. Alexander LaVelle Harris of the United States Army drove his Jeep Wrangler up to the sign that said Welcome to Sunnydale. It had been 2 years since he had been back to town. He had left within a couple of days of graduating from high school. Since he had not had the money to afford college tuition, and his parents were certainly not going to pay for it, he had decided to get out and see the country some before trying to find a job.  
  
A month after he left town he had found himself in North Carolina. His car gave up the ghost outside of an Army recruiting station. Xander had been sitting there trying to figure out what to do when he noticed the sign in the window about college tuition in return for 2 years of service in the Army. He looked at the sign for quite a while thinking about his future. He finally decided that it was fate that caused him to break down there and went in and signed up.  
  
He did his basic training at Fort Bragg right there in North Carolina. Due to the soldier memories that he had from that Halloween curse a few years ago he excelled in his training. After basic he was immediately recruited into the Green Berets. He spent the next 2 years with them on various missions throughout the world. He had seen and learned quite a bit. His specialty was as a Pathfinder/Sniper. During his time with the Green Berets he had gotten into much better shape. His body was fairly muscular now. He also learned quite a bit about combat, whether it is hand-to-hand or armed with blades or guns.  
  
During one mission where he was assigned the job of the lone sniper he stumbled across a vampire while getting into position. He managed to take it out with the stake that he also carried with him. After the mission he got to thinking about bullets. Wooden bullets in particular. He wondered if it would be possible to create a wooden bullet to use against vampires. While he was on leave one day he came across a guy running an Army surplus store in town. The guy's name was Smitty. Xander talked to Smitty for a long time about bullets. It turned out that Smitty could get you anything you wanted in the way of hardware. He also was a decent armorer.  
  
They discussed his idea for wooden bullets. At first Smitty was pretty skeptical about vampires. Xander took him out that night on a patrol and they found a vamp. After that Smitty agreed to work with Xander on creating wooden bullets. Over the next couple of weeks the two of them managed to come up with the correct formula and created the first ever wooden bullet. They christened it the Vampire Killer bullet. They also created silver bullets they called Demon Killers. Both types of bullets went onto Smitty's "special" website where he listed his "special" hardware for sale. They worked out a deal where Xander would receive 20% of the profits of the sale of them since he had had a hand in the design of them. Smitty had sent the samples of them off to a friend who could produce them in larger quantities. His friend also made them in various sizes, so that they could be used in different types of guns.  
  
It was just after sunset when he pulled up to the Sunnydale motor lodge and got a room for the night. Tomorrow he planned to go over to UC Sunnydale to register for his classes. Right before he had been honorably discharged from the Army he had applied to the college and had been accepted. Though he had actually loved his time in the Army, and had joined the Army Reserves when he had left the regular Army, he was looking forward to getting back into civilian life. With the tuition assistance from the Army he planned to get his College degree. He also was going to look for an apartment.  
  
He looked forward to seeing his friends again. While they had corresponded by mail while he was away, this was his first time back to town. He knew that both Cordelia and Oz had left, but Buffy and Willow were both attending UC Sunnydale. Also, Giles was still in town and now was running a magic supply store called the Magic Box.  
  
While Willow had been his best friend since they were little kids, he really was looking forward to seeing Buffy. He had been secretly in love with her since he first met her several years ago. While she never returned his feelings he still loved her. He had been told in a letter from Willow that her latest boyfriend, Riley Finn, had left her a couple of months ago and she had not yet found anyone new. He hoped that this might be his chance with her.  
  
He also had been told in a letter from Buffy that Willow was now seeing a girl. Xander had never considered himself a prude. If this girl, Tara, was making his Willow happy then he was perfectly fine with that. He had loved Willow like a sister for most of their lives and her happiness was important to him.  
  
Some of the later letters from Buffy and Willow started mentioning Buffy's little sister, Dawn. This had confused Xander. As far as he knew Buffy did not have a sister. Instead of asking them about it he had called Giles one night and talked to him. Giles had explained to him about Glory and how Dawn was the Key. Somehow the powers-that-be had changed everyone's memories so that they "remembered" Dawn. Since Xander had not even been in the country at the time that she had arrived he had evidently not been affected. Giles had figured this out a little while ago, but had not said anything to Dawn about it. Giles told Xander about Dawn herself and Xander thought he would like her. Xander agreed with Giles about not saying anything and assured him that he would treat the situation as if he had always known her.  
  
After getting showered and changed he decided that he would go out and patrol. He wanted to test some of the new gear that he had picked up from Smitty before leaving for home. He took his sniper rifle, a colt .45, a silver bladed Combat Bowie and several wooden stakes. He had also dressed in his black sniper outfit and had blacked out his face.  
  
He made his way to Weatherly Cemetery and climbed up into the branches of one of the large trees. He setup his rifle and waited for some vampires. Within a few minutes he saw three of them coming towards him. He sighted them through the night scope and calmly took out all three within seconds. All three were reduced to dust before they even knew what hit them. Xander merely smiled to himself and then jumped out of the tree and moved to another area of the town.  
  
While he was moving through the shadows in the park near the Bronze he heard a scream. He rushed towards it, while staying in the shadows, and saw that it was a teenage girl being grabbed by a vampire. He walked up to them and threw a punch to the back of the head of the vampire. This got the vampires attention and he let go of the girl to take care of this new human. As soon as the vampire turned around though, he was met by a stake to the heart.  
  
Xander reached down and helped the girl to her feet. "You know you shouldn't be walking around in this town alone after dark. It's just not safe."  
  
The girl looked at Xander and cringed back a little after seeing his outfit and weapons. "Uh.. Thank you for rescuing me. What happened to the, umm, mugger?" she asked.  
  
Xander could tell that the girl really knew what the attacker had been but was not aware that Xander also had known. He decided to play along for the moment. "Oh, him? He ran away when I attacked him. Would you like me to walk you home?" Xander asked.  
  
"Umm... No thank you. I think that I'll just go back to the club and call my mom for a ride." said the girl.  
  
"Ok." said Xander and walked her back the short distance to the Bronze. He walked on after she had gone inside.  
  
When Dawn had got back inside the Bronze she immediately went to a pay phone and called her mom.  
  
After she had gotten home she said good night to her mother and went up stairs to her room. She grabbed the phone and called her sister's dorm room.  
  
"Hello?" said Buffy.  
  
"Hi Buffy." said Dawn.  
  
"What's up Dawn? How come you're calling me so late?"  
  
"I wanted to ask you about the Initiative. I thought you told me that they were all gone."  
  
"They are. After that A.D.A.M. fiasco the government had shut them down. Why are you asking?"  
  
"Well tonight a commando rescued me from a vampire." Dawn went on to tell her exactly what happened. She described to Buffy what the commando had looked like and what he appeared to be armed with.  
  
"That doesn't sound like any of the Initiative commandos. Meet me at the Magic Box tomorrow morning and we'll talk about it then. Maybe someone else in the gang will know."  
  
"Alright. Goodnight"  
  
"Goodnight."  
  
The next day found Xander at a local real estate office. He had just come from registering for classes at the college. Classes would start in a couple of days. He was now signing the papers to rent an apartment just off of campus.  
  
After he finished with that he went over to his apartment and unpacked his belongings. After a few hours of work setting up the apartment the way he wanted it he decided to walk around town to get the feel for the place again. He also wanted to stop in to the Magic Box and say hi to Giles. While they knew he was coming back to town, he had not contacted them yet to tell them that he was here. He wanted to surprise the gang.  
  
He arrived at the Magic Box a little after one o'clock. He walked in and heard a voice from the back tell him that they would be out to assist him in a moment. He decided to look around for a few minutes. He was impressed by the items that they had for sale.  
  
Giles walked out of the back of the store to greet the customer. When he turned the corner around the bookcases he stopped dead, in shock. Standing in front of him was someone he had not seen in 2 years, Xander Harris. He recovered and grabbed Xander into a hug. He had always thought of Xander like a son, even though the boy did annoy him quite a bit at times. He let him go and took a good look at him.  
  
"Xander! When did you get back into town?" asked Giles.  
  
"Just last night. It was kind of late, so I didn't want to bother calling anyone then." said Xander.  
  
They sat around and talked for over an hour about what Xander had been up to over the last 2 years. They also discussed the changes that have happened in Sunnydale.  
  
"Well I see that the Army did some good for you. You've toned up quite a bit and I see you finally developed a fashion sense." said Giles, smirking.  
  
"Yeah. The first leave we had a few of my buddies dragged me to a department store and "beat" it into me." laughed Xander.  
  
"Xander, with your military experience maybe you can help us out. Last night Dawn encountered someone dressed up like a commando. At first she thought it was someone that was still around from the Initiative, but her description of the person does not match their standard dress. If I described him maybe you could figure out if they were military or something else." said Giles.  
  
"I'll give it a try." said Xander.  
  
Giles described the person from what Dawn had told him. Xander just started to laugh. Giles looked at him rather strangely.  
  
"What's so funny about this? We may have a new threat in town and you're laughing about it." said Giles, angrily.  
  
"Calm down Giles. I'm laughing because I know exactly whom it is that you just described. I also now know who it was that I rescued last night from that vampire." said Xander.  
  
"That was you?" asked an astonished Giles.  
  
"Yeah. What I hadn't mentioned to you yet was that the unit that I was in in the Army was the Green Berets. My specialty is sniper/pathfinder. Also while I was there I hooked up with an armorer in the town and we created a wooden bullet. I was testing them out last night. I successfully sniped ten vampires. When I was walking home I encountered a teenage girl being grabbed by a vampire. I pulled the vampire off of her and staked him. She went back to the Bronze to call for a ride. I went home. I never found out her name, nor did I tell her mine. I was wearing all black with blackout paint on my face. She would not have seen me very clearly."  
  
"Wow. I'm impressed. It appears that I had no idea how much good the Army did for you. Wooden bullets you say?"  
  
"Yes. We also created silver ones to use against demons."  
  
He pulled out two clips from his jacket pocket and popped out of them one bullet of each type to show to Giles. Giles looked at them and was impressed.  
  
"These are for my .45 that I carry with me. I also have ones for my sniper rifle and for my 9mm that I left at home."  
  
"The rest of the group will be here at 3 o'clock for our meeting. Will you stick around?"  
  
"Yeah. But first I want to run home and grab something."  
  
He arrived back at the store at about 2:45pm and asked Giles if he could use the back office for a few minutes. He was carrying a black duffel bag with him. He asked Giles to call him out when everyone had gotten there. He also asked him not to say anything about what he had just told him.  
  
Xander went in to the office and changed into his sniper gear. He even put the grease paint on his face. He then strapped the sniper rifle to his back and his gun belt to his waist.  
  
A few minutes after 3 o'clock everyone had arrived and had started talking again about the mysterious commando from last night. Giles excused himself for a moment and went over and quietly knocked on the office door. He had seen the duffel bag and suspected what Xander was doing. He then walked back to the table and sat down.  
  
"What was that all about Giles?" asked Buffy.  
  
"I have a friend in the office that felt he could help us with our problem. I was just letting him know that we were ready for him." stated Giles.  
  
"Oh." said Buffy.  
  
At that moment the door opened and everyone looked over to see the person who was coming out. Xander walked out in his full outfit and a sudden hush fell over the entire group.  
  
Suddenly Buffy got up and dropped into a defensive stance. "You come anywhere near my friends and I will hurt you."  
  
Xander smiled and said, "Well it good to see you again too Buff."  
  
Buffy and Willow's jaws just dropped.  
  
"Xander?" said a timid Willow.  
  
"Xander?" said Buffy in a small voice.  
  
Xander bowed to the group and said, "Yep it's me. I just got back into town last night. Now if you will excuse me a moment I will go change out of this before we talk some more. I don't want one of your customers coming in and seeing me like this."  
  
A few minutes later he came back out of the office wearing regular clothes and had cleaned the paint off of his face.  
  
"Is that better?" asked a smiling Xander.  
  
Before he could say anything else he was tackled by a red headed battering ram.  
  
Willow grabbed him into a hug and started babbling about how much she had missed him. "OhmygodImissedyousomuchtheselastfewyears."  
  
"Slow down Willow. It's been awhile and I'm a little rusty on Willowspeak. Also, I think your girlfriend is getting a little jealous." said a smiling Xander.  
  
Willow blushed a little and let go of him. As soon as she did Buffy grabbed him into a hug. Then it was Dawn's turn.  
  
After that he walked over and introduced himself to Tara. "Hi, I'm Xander Harris. You must be Tara. Don't worry about me. Willow and I are just really good friends and have been since we were little kids. If you're making my Willow happy then I don't care about your preferences." said a smiling Xander.  
  
Willow hugged Tara from her chair next to her and said, "Thanks Xander." Tara just smiled shyly at him.  
  
After that Xander sat down between Buffy and Dawn and told them everything, including about the bullets and what he did last night.  
  
Dawn leaned over and kissed him on the cheek and thanked him again for saving her. Buffy leaned over from the other side and did the same thing. Xander just blushed a little and smiled. The girls giggled at his blushing.  
  
They sat there and talked some more about what had happened to all of them over the last couple of years. Xander told them about the classes that he was signed up to take and about the apartment that he had gotten. By this point it was after 6pm.  
  
Giles got up and started to close up the store for the night. Everyone gave him a hand with it.  
  
Xander approached Giles about a possible part-time job and Giles agreed. The others already worked there part-time and it would be good to have him there to help as well.  
  
After they were done closing up Buffy announced that she had spoken to her mom and had told her that Xander was back in town. Joyce had immediately invited him and the rest of the gang over for dinner.  
  
When they arrived at the Summer's residence Xander got another hug. This time from Joyce Summers. Joyce had always liked Xander and Xander had considered her more of a mother than his own.  
  
Over a delicious dinner Xander once again went over what he had been doing over the last 2 years. Joyce was impressed that he had made Sergeant in that little time. He mentioned to all of them that he had joined the Reserves.  
  
When he mentioned what he had done last night Joyce came over and gave him a kiss on his cheek in thanks for saving her daughter. He blushed again. They all laughed at that.  
  
Joyce then asked him if he was currently carrying a gun. He said yes and pulled out his .45 and showed it to everyone. He also explained about the 9mm and sniper rifle that he had in his car.  
  
"Xander, while I am not comfortable with having a gun in my house, knowing what I do about what is out there, I will make an exception. Besides it is obvious that you know what you are doing with them and will handle them safely and correctly." said Joyce.  
  
"You don't have to worry about it Mrs. Summers. In the army they teach you to have a deep respect for all weapons. Before you are even allowed to fire one you are taught and tested on everything there is to know about them. Including how to safely and correctly handle them and how to strip them down and clean them." explained Xander.  
  
After dinner the girls decided to drag Xander to the Bronze for a welcome home celebration. Giles stayed and talked some more with Joyce. Xander had found out earlier in the day that Giles and Joyce had started seeing each other. While it had not gotten too serious yet they seemed to enjoy each other's company.  
  
Later at the Bronze the four girls and Xander were sitting at one of the tables having some drinks and listening to the music. Xander got up to do a drink run. While he was at the bar the girls started talking about him.  
  
"Wow. I can't believe how good he looks now." said Buffy.  
  
"Yeah. The army really agreed with him. He even seems more confident." said Willow.  
  
"Hey, you better not start making Tara jealous, Wills." said a smiling Buffy.  
  
"Hey! You know I would never go after him. I've known him all of my life, and yes I used to have a crush on him, but he only ever saw me as his best friend. I got over that crush years ago. What about you, though, Buffy?" asked Willow.  
  
"I don't know. I'm kind of confused right now. Over the years that I have known him I have loved him as a friend, and maybe more. During that time after Angel had lost his soul it was Xander who comforted me the most. He was always there trying to protect me or save me. Even when I told him to stay behind where it would be safe, he would ignore me and try to keep an eye on me. I know that he loved me, but I just wasn't there for him. Seeing him again today has really brought the memories back to forefront. Excuse me but I need to use restroom." said Buffy.  
  
"I'll go with you." said Dawn.  
  
Xander came back just after they left.  
  
"Where is Buffy and Dawn?" asked Xander.  
  
"They went to use the restroom." said Tara.  
  
"Hey Xander. How do you feel about Buffy? I know you used to be in love with her, but what about now?" asked Willow.  
  
"What brought this up?" asked Xander.  
  
"We were just talking about relationships. That's all." said Willow.  
  
"Well, I think that I'm still in love with her. When I saw her earlier, for the first time in 2 years, I just couldn't get over how good she looked. It's kind of funny. With all that I have been through while in the army, I'm still scared about telling her how I feel about her. What if she doesn't feel the same way? What if I ruin our friendship?"  
  
"My advise to you is this. Why don't you ask her to dance and take it from there. If you think that the moment is right go ahead and tell her how you feel. You might as well know how she feels. It can't be worse then going through life not knowing."  
  
"You're right as usual Wills. I think I will do just that."  
  
A minute later Buffy and Dawn came back.  
  
A few minutes later the band started up a new set. Xander asked Buffy if she would like to dance. She looked a little shocked and in a small voice said yes.  
  
They danced to several songs, including several slow ones. They seemed to both be enjoying themselves. At the end of the set Xander asked Buffy to join him upstairs. They walked upstairs to the balcony and leaned against the railing looking down over the crowd.  
  
Xander turned to Buffy and said, "Buffy, I have something to tell you. Please let me finish before you say anything. I hope this won't ruin our friendship, but I have to tell you this. I love you. I have loved you since I first met you. I don't know if you feel the same way. If you don't, I understand. I just couldn't keep this to myself anymore. When I saw you earlier today, for the first time in 2 years, I just couldn't stop staring at you. You've grown up into a very beautiful women." After he said it he just looked away afraid to see the reaction that he got to what he had just said.  
  
Buffy just stood there in shock for a moment with tears in her eyes. She then turned him back towards her.  
  
"Oh Xander. I know that you used to love me back in high school, but I just couldn't see it then. I wasn't sure if you still did. When I saw you earlier today all of the feeling that I had had for you over the years came to the forefront of my mind. I have been trying to sort them out all evening. I have now. I love you Xander Harris." said Buffy. With that she stepped up on her toes and kissed him on the lips.  
  
Xander was shocked at first, but then started kissing her back passionately. They just stood there for a while holding each other and kissing. They finally stopped kissing and just stood there looking into each other's eyes.  
  
With arms around each other they looked down onto the dance floor once again. They saw Willow, Tara and Dawn smiling up at them.  
  
"I think they knew us better than we did." said Xander.  
  
"Uh huh." said Buffy.  
  
Just then three men walked in with guns and announced a robbery.  
  
Xander looked over at Buffy, "Hide over in the corner in the shadows. I'll take care of this."  
  
With that he pulled out his .45 and screwed a silencer onto it. He took out the clip with the wooden bullets and loaded a clip of regular ones. When Buffy saw this she did as he asked.  
  
Xander then moved around the balcony so that he could take out the one that was coming up the stairs without the other two down below seeing it.  
  
As soon as the guy turned the corner at the top of the stairs, Xander slapped one hand over his mouth and the other one twisted the gun out of his hand. He then quickly put him into a sleeper hold. As soon as the guy was down he dragged the body over to Buffy and gave her the guy's gun. "Watch him." said Xander to a slightly scared Buffy.  
  
He then went around the balcony and got into a position where he had a clear shot at the other two from behind. Instead of shooting them though he vaulted over the balcony and landed behind the two of them, silently. He then quickly knocked out both of them in quick succession. This was all accomplished with out a single shot being fired.  
  
Xander then called over to the bartender and told him to call the cops. He gave his .45 to Willow and asked her to watch the two men while he went upstairs to grab the third one. After he had all three of them together on the floor he bound them all with some extension cords that the band had.  
  
He then took the gun from Buffy and placed that one with the other 2 guys' guns on the bar. He then took his back from Willow and put it back into his jacket.  
  
He turned to the bartender and said, "Sir, we were not here tonight. You did not see us. A group of the other guys here mobbed them and then ran out after tying them up. Understand."  
  
"Yeah, I understand. And thanks a lot for saving us. Next time you come back the drinks are on the house for your group."  
  
Xander smiled and herded the girls out of the club and quickly away from there as they heard the cop cars getting closer.  
  
"What was that all about?" asked Tara.  
  
"I don't want to deal with the Sunnydale cops. They're the worst cops I have ever encountered. They would probably try to pin this on me due to the gun that I am carrying. Also they would harass Buffy, especially if Detective Stein shows up." said Xander.  
  
Dawn came over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks for saving me yet again."  
  
With that Willow and Tara also kissed him on the cheek and Buffy kissed him on the lips.  
  
As they started walking back to Buffy's house Xander was walking with one arm around Buffy's waist and the other around Dawn's. Willow and Tara had their arms around each other. Xander blushed a little at the kisses but said seriously, "What ever I have to do to protect my girls I will. That means all four of you. Buffy and I finally admitted to our love for each other tonight. Dawn, I love you like the kid sister that I never had. Willow, you know how much our friendship has meant to me over the years. And last but not least Tara. You make my Willow happy and that's all I need to know to care about you as well. Buffy and Dawn, your mom is included in there, as well as Giles. I would do whatever I had to to keep your mom and Giles safe. She's been like a mother to me and Giles has been like a father, while neither of my real parents could have cared less about me."  
  
All four girls stopped at this declaration and stared at him. They all saw the seriousness in his eyes and each of them realized that this was no longer the class clown from high school, but a very capable man that would do exactly what he promised. They also saw something else in his eyes. They saw his love for each of them. While it was a different kind of love directed at each of them, it was the same in intensity. With that they all came together and hugged him at the same time. They then broke it off and continued home.  
  
When they arrived back at the Summers residence they found Joyce and Giles sitting together on the front porch swing with their arms around each other. When Giles and Joyce saw Xander with his arm around Buffy's waist they smiled. Both of them had seen the love that they had had for each other over the years. They were happy that the two of them finally saw it as well.  
  
END 


End file.
